Right, I shall have to write this is fits and starts as I find the time and opportunity.

Let me start with sightings of the bipedal plantigrade sort.

The largest number of illegals I saw at any one time was 26. That's right, twenty-six! In broad daylight, dressed in bright colors, and within sight of the water tower of the Mabilingwe anti-poaching camp. They were most likely on one of their regular shopping trips to Bende Mutale. To quote a report:

"Illegal and Inappropriate Movement of through the Area: Zimbabwean communities in the Sengwe area to the north of the Makuleke Contractual Park often move through the Park in order to cross into South Africa to conduct their shopping activities. This has been tolerated, given the food security issues in Zimbabwe."

Whether this should be tolerated is debatable. The large numbers involved makes it easy for criminals, poachers and illegal immigrants to hide amongst the "shoppers".

Now repeatedly seeing steady streams of shoppers cheerfully walking through a national park is bad enough, but early one Sunday morning I was driving down the H1-8 and encountered about 15 people brazenly walking down the tar road at Klopperfontein! They were walking south, it was overcast and drizzling, so they did not hear or see me coming at first. When they did, they scattered in all directions like cane rats at the approach of a leopard. This was where the road crosses the vlei that feeds into Klopperfontein, so they all ended up hiding in very wet grass and bushes, ha ha ha.

It may have been funny, but the situation is obviously getting completely out of hand. I fully understand that SANParks' resources are stretched to the limit. I completely understand that rhino poaching is their top priority. But at the same time large numbers of people who do not belong there are moving through the park quite openly. Something needs to be done, and something needs to be done quickly and decisively before the situation deteriorates to the point that tourists start asking themselves why they are visiting the KNP. They don't come to watch all sorts of people taking a walk in the park, that's for sure.

Next installment: Sightings of non-tourist vehicular traffic (despite the Pafuri Border being closed).

Johan

Last edited by johanrebel on Mon Apr 01, 2013 9:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Good day Johan thank you for the effort to keep us informed regarding sightings in the Pafuri area although this installment is interesting reading in a different sense than sightings of fishing owls, leopards and so forth. Kruger is facing many growing challenges.

“Whether it's the best of times or the worst of times, it's the only time we've got.”

Upon leaving Punda Maria on the 3rd of January, we found 4 refugees walking in the middle of the tar road on their way to Punda Gate. They didn't even try to run or hide, just kept on walking. We tried to ask them what they are doing and with the little English they understood and could explain themselves, just said something that sounded like "jumping the border". We were fully loaded in our car with a trailer in tow, so we couldn't turn around to report them, but did that at Shingwedzi, but by that time, it would have been too late and they would have disappeared already, we were told.

In my oppinion, it ist to easy to say that all illegal people, are refugees from Mocambique. Now days I belive the biggest matter are the refugees from Zimbabwe or Poacher from Asia, which mainly hunts Rhino. It is a very sad story at the moment they build up a smuggler Ring to bring out the horns and sell it in Asia. The Smuggler Ring will probably work together with Poachers and that makes it very complicated. Because of the Langauge difficulties I can imagine that the recruite mainly people either from RSA or Zim. It is bad to say, but these guys getting more and more organised and techniliased.

It would be very intresting to see how many refugees are really comming from Moc. I will doubt it. As far as I know Mocambiqure are stabil now days. I´m correkt?

It would be intresting to see, how many Humans are really killed by Lions, because of their shy Behavior I can imagine, that lot of people are killed from Leopards without getting reportet in the statistiks. The Problem ist, the rare Matrial to use, so the whole discussion is based on either spekulation or people which got couth dead or alive. Evrything Else is just a guess.

PetraJ wrote:Upon leaving Punda Maria on the 3rd of January, we found 4 refugees walking in the middle of the tar road on their way to Punda Gate. They didn't even try to run or hide, just kept on walking. We tried to ask them what they are doing and with the little English they understood and could explain themselves, just said something that sounded like "jumping the border". We were fully loaded in our car with a trailer in tow, so we couldn't turn around to report them, but did that at Shingwedzi, but by that time, it would have been too late and they would have disappeared already, we were told.

I wouldve tied them to the top of my trailer and deposited them at the nearest camp!

I think it would be fairly safe to assume that the majority of illegal immigrants are from Mozambique and not Zimbabwe (not all, but definately the majority). Only a small part of SA that is on the border with Zimbabwe is Kruger, whereas the vast majority of the borderline between SA and Mozambique is part of Kruger. What Im saying is that it is easier for Zimbabwean immigrants to cross the border elsewhere into SA, whereas Mozambiquan immigrants have to cross Kruger to get into SA.

The political situation in Mozambique may be stable, but poverty is still rife. I have been to Maputo (the capital) and a lot of the buildings there still show signs of the war which ended a long time ago. These people are looking for a better life as AnneMarie points out, such a shame that poverty is still such a factor, one that drives people to risk literally everything (most of all their life) for the small promise of a better, more satisfying life...it breaks my heart.

It is also not correct to assume that lions are "shy" animals. I have been on a walk from Lower Sabie, where we drove close to the Moz border. We came across a pride of lions (while fortunately still in the vehicle on the way to the walking point) who had clearly lost their fear of humans. The guide knew this pride well and indicated that they had killed many illegals in the past (these could only have been Moz illegals btw).

Such a sad reality of the area that we live in, something that you dont need "book facts" to know about or prove.

"Wealth is not measured by how much you own, but by how much you give to others!"

To make myself clear here I dont care if they are poachers or searching for a better life fact is they are stepping into my country illegally, and hence I will stop them I have witnessed how our own people are suffering due to illegals whether zim or mozambique entering into our country getting jobs and south africans suffer! If they want to do it go about it in the correct manner I dont see what right they have to overstep that boundary and do as they please in my country they wont allow it in theirs so Ill stand my ground on mine as its my right to do so, that is why I will give them in.

I wrote very clearly that I meant with shy animals Leopards and not lions. But even Lions can be very shy and quite esspecially on the hunt. But that is an another discussion, that i really don´t want to start. The reason why I doubt it, that the most refugees are killed by Lions is the Fact, that this is nearly impossible to cought a Leopard in the act of killing. So far nobody Knows how many People die in Kruger nor why they die. Lot´s of open questions

Well as I said in my former Post, it is just an Assumption, because I haven been to Zimbabwe 2011 and the Situation was frighting. The Situation is even more worse then then in Mocambique where a development is in Progress. Of Course the Situation is still worse, I don´t want to deny that, but I only question the matter that all Refugees are Mocambique. I´m talking about the majority, that doesn´t mean at all that no Mocambiquen refugees are entering RSA. That is definatly not correct.

Hello Sheenaugh-Lee I´m very shocked abou the Statement you have done. Of Course it is not correkt if they are entering Illegally but these are humans as you and me and so he have to treat them. these are no animals. The Rate of unemployment, which is in RSA very high is also very shoking, but still I dont think that the Refugges from ZIM or MOC are a big competition to the RSA citizen. It is in my oppinion to easy to blame the foreign humans for everything. I really don´t want to start a political debatte, But that Stattement really makes me think.